Spontaneous-fission properties and production of heavy-element isotopes

Journal Article · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · Acc. Chem. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ar00103a003· OSTI ID:6121841

Hoffman, D C

Spontaneous fission was discovered in /sup 238/U as a natural mode of decay as long ago as 1940. However, because of the long spontaneous-fission half-life of /sup 238/U of about 10/sup 16/ years, the decay rate (specific activity) was so low that detailed studies of the properties of spontaneous fission had to await the synthesis of isotopes of higher Z elements with shorter spontaneous-fission half-lives. During the 1960s, milligram quantities of /sup 252/Cf became available to researchers through the Transplutonium Production Program of the US Atomic Energy Commission. The availability of /sup 252/Cf with a spontaneous-fission half-life of 85 years, and its resultant high specific activity, stimulated many pioneering studies of the spontaneous-fission process. detailed measurements of the mass, charge, and kinetic-energy distributions of the fission fragments, of prompt neutron and photon emission from the fragments, and the interrelationship of these properties were reported by numerous investigators. Since that time, studies of the spontaneous-fission properties of many other isotopes, some with half-lives of less than a second, have been made. 36 references, 12 figures, 2 tables.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM
• OSTI ID: 6121841
• Journal Information: Acc. Chem. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Acc. Chem. Res.; (United States) Vol. 17:7; ISSN ACHRE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
400702 -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry-- Properties of Radioactive Materials
400703 -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry-- Radioisotope Production
652026* -- Nuclear Properties & Reactions
A=220 & above
Experimental-- Spontaneous & Induced Fission-- (-1987)
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
DATA
DECAY
DIRECT REACTIONS
DISTRIBUTION
ENERGY SPECTRA
EVALUATED DATA
FISSION
FISSION YIELD
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION
ISOTOPES
MASS
MULTI-NUCLEON TRANSFER REACTIONS
NUCLEAR REACTION YIELD
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
RADIOISOTOPES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
SPECTRA
SPONTANEOUS FISSION
TRANSFER REACTIONS
YIELDS